Two people are in custody after a Black woman was dragged off a Seattle metro bus and stabbed in what authorities described as a "racially-motivated" attack.
The Kent Police Department said officers responded to reports of a stabbing near the 800 block of Central Avenue South around 7:45 p.m. on March 7. The victim, identified as a 43-year-old Black woman who lives in Kent, told 911 dispatchers she was assaulted near a metro bus.
The victim alleges the two suspects approached her while she was on the bus, called her "racist derogatory names, and stated they did not like ‘Black people.'" When the woman went to the bus driver and asked him to call 911, that's when one of the assailants got violent. Police claim the suspect grabbed her, pulled her off the metro bus, and punched her several times.
The attacker then pulled out a folding pocketknife and started stabbing the victim, according to police. Officers noted the victim's "bulky jacket" protected her from serious injuries. Police confirmed the jacket also had multiple cuts in the fabric. The Black woman said the suspects fled after she called the cops.
Officers found the stabbing suspect hiding under a vehicle roughly 10 minutes into the search. He was identified as a 22-year-old Maple Valley resident and booked into the King County Jail for assault and hate crime. The second suspect, identified as a 22-year-old Auburn resident, was also arrested and charged with obstructing for attempting to interfere with his friend's arrest.
Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla condemned the stabbing as "blatantly hateful" and vowed to "prosecute the offender to the fullest extent of the law."
"I am infuriated by the blatant hateful racially motivated attack on the victim. Our officers took this call very seriously, conducting a thorough investigation and successfully put the violent offender in jail. Our detectives will now continue the investigation and we will prosecute the offender to the fullest extent of the law," Padilla said in the statement. "I want to say this in the strongest way that I can, Hate Crimes will not be tolerated. If you commit a hate crime in our city, KPD will be relentless in our pursuit of bringing you to justice."
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